Air Quality Forecast

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Air quality forecasts for Evansville and Vanderburgh County are provided as a public service.  They are best estimates of predicted pollution levels that can be used as a guide so people can modify their activities and reduce their exposure to air quality conditions that may affect their health.  The forecasts are routinely made available at least a day in advance, and are posted by 10:30 AM Evansville time on Monday (for Tuesday through Thursday) and Thursday (for Friday through Monday).  When atmospheric conditions are uncertain or favor pollution levels above the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, forecasts are made on a daily basis.

Ozone forecasts are available from mid-April through September 30th.  Fine particulate (PM2.5) forecasts are available year round.

Monday
October 3		 Tuesday
October 4		 Wednesday
October 5		 Thursday
October 6		 Friday
October 7
Fine Particulate
(0-23 CST avg)
Air Quality Index		 good moderate good moderate moderate
Ozone
Air Quality Index		 NA* NA* NA* NA* NA*
Ozone
(peak 8-hr avg)
(expected)		 NA* NA* NA* NA* NA*

* Not Available and/or Conditions Uncertain.

Air Quality Action Days

Ozone Alerts are issued by the Evansville EPA when maximum ozone readings averaged over a period of eight hours are forecasted to reach 71 parts per billion (ppb), or unhealthy for sensitive groups on the USEPA Air Quality Index scale.

Particulate Alerts are issued by the Evansville EPA when PM2.5 readings averaged over the period of midnight to midnight are forecasted to reach 35 micrograms per meter cubed (µg/m3).

Current conditions of OZONE and FINE PARTICULATE MATTER are available in near real-time on the Indiana Department of Environment Management’s website.

National and regional maps of current conditions are available through USEPA AIRNow.

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1 COMMENT

  1. People can do their own research and see what the Ozone levels are by actually going to the State’s Web Site. The State IDEM APCD Monitoring Section does the actual monitoring of the ozone in this area. The City doesn’t monitor the ozone anymore do they? And the State’s (Continuous Air Monitoring Trailer) is where the ozone levels are measured in Evansville, IN. And that Monitoring Trailer is not located in a good spot to monitor the highest levels of ozone in this area. It’s located inside the city limits in an area of heavy traffic. Ozone precursor gases have to travel 20 miles while cooking in the sunlight of the summer sun before they cook long enough to produce high levels of Ozone gas. And Ozone is so reactive that it’s easily destroyed. But as it’s destroyed it’s destroying what it touches. So if you want to monitor the highest levels of Ozone in this area you have to go miles downwind. The most prevalent wind direction in Evansville during the hot summer months is from the SW. So one has to move the Ozone monitor out by Scott Grade School in the McCutchanville Area to record and find the highest levels of Ozone in this area. The State’s current Ozone monitor is located out in North Park Miles away from the McCutchanville Area.

    So it’s ironic that some of the Richest People in Evansville living in the most exclusive McCutchanville area are breathing the highest levels of Ozone gas than anyone else in the County. Sometimes those who think that they are safe are actually in the eye of the tiger.

    How many people living in this area are businessmen? And how many of those businesses are creating the precursor chemicals that help the Ozone to form in the first place. Places that produce lots of hydrocarbon emission such as gas stations, paint shops, Plastic Plants and many other business such a dry cleaning as well as all the vehicles, trains and plane all contribute to the emissions that help create the Ozone problem .

    And this problem is not just confined to our area. There are huge areas that are having high levels of Ozone these days. And with Global Warming and more heat being trapped into the atmosphere due to higher levels of CO2 and Methane in the air the precursor chemicals are becoming more volatile. The more Volatile Gasoline becomes the more vapors it releases into the atmosphere. And the more hydrocarbons in the air the more Ozone produced when the conditions are right. IE high levels of sunlight with high UV light waves present. It’s take a lot of UV light to break the bonds of regular Oxygen to form Ozone gas. If you have a CPAP machine and want to sterilize it you use an Ozone Gas Machine to pass O3 gas though the CPAP machine. Ozone will kill bacteria and mold to help sanatize the CPAP machine and it’s hose and mask. Some Cities use Ozone gas to kill the bacteria in their drinking water before pumping the water out into the distribution system.

    So Ozone Gas can kill bacterial cells and mold. Just as the O3 Ozone gas kills the bacterial cells it also kills the cells in your lungs and air way. The more Ozone gas molecules in the air we breath the more of our lung cells die. This is what’s called a Dose Related Response. When too many lung cells get irritated and die the body responds by coughing and trying to expel the gas that did the damage. But the Ozone has already done it’s damage and it reverted back to regular O2 gas or just regular oxygen. But the electron’s that were released in the process have helped destroy one of the cells in the lungs. This happens in the airway too. The mucus membranes in the respiratory system are at greater risk. But Ozone also does damage to your eye’s tissue and the skin as well as the lungs. Perhaps Ozone and excessive UV light are creating more skin cancers too.

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